German troops who are part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) (Reuters / Omar Sobhani) / Reuters

NATO is reportedly working towards the creation of an expeditionary force composed of 10,000 troops from seven different member states as a result of escalating tensions with Russia over the conflict in Ukraine.

According to the Financial Times, the force’s creation will be
spearheaded by Britain and involve contributions from Denmark,
Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Norway, and the Netherlands. Canada
is also interested in joining the group, but it’s not known what
its final decision will be.

Although no formal announcement has been made, British Prime
Minister David Cameron is expected to declare its formation at
the upcoming NATO summit in Wales on September 4th.

Many specifics have yet to be worked out or announced, but
planners are reportedly implementing ways to increase the number
of soldiers involved even more if necessary. Air and naval units
will be integrated into the group, as well as ground troops led
by British commanders.

As noted by the Times, the creation of the force comes as a
response to Russia’s involvement in the ongoing Ukrainian crisis,
with the ultimate goal being to “create a fully functioning,
division-sized force for rapid deployment and regular, frequent
exercises.” NATO has accused Russia of deploying more than
1,000 troops into Ukraine to bolster militia in the eastern part
of the country.

Russia, however, insists that it does not have troops operating
inside of Ukraine and has dismissed NATO’s assertions.

Despite the fact that NATO has opted not to act militarily in
Ukraine – unnamed sources told Foreign Policy on Friday that there are no
plans to confront Russia with anything more than stronger
sanctions – Jonathan Eyal of the London-based Royal United
Services Institute said the group needs to demonstrate that its
eastern European members are just as integral to the alliance as
other states.

“We need to end the idea of different zones of security in
Europe,” he told the Financial Times. “We need to be
talking about prepositioning, regular rotation of troops and
making it very clear that we do not accept that the eastern
Europeans are in some different category of membership of
NATO.”

The revelation also arrives just a few days after NATO’s
Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen expressed interest in forming “a more visible
presence” in Eastern Europe in the form of facilities
capable of rapidly receiving “response forces” needed to
counter Russia.

For his part, Russia’s envoy to NATO, Aleksandr Grushko, said any attempt to stretch further into the region
would impact Moscow’s own security planning.